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Date Published: 14/11/2022

ARCHIVED - How a veto from Spain could stop Scotland joining the EU in 2023

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

Spain won’t support Scottish independence unless Westminster backs the secession from the UK

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - How a veto from Spain could stop Scotland joining the EU in 2023

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is currently in the process of appealing to the UK Supreme Court to grant a vote for independence in a bid to join the European Union. While Spain, in theory, is in favour of such a move, Assistant Professor in European and Public Law Dr. Aris Georgopoulos strongly believes that Pedro Sánchez’s government will veto the Scottish accession if it clashes with the Spanish general elections.

Nicola Sturgeon has been battling to re-join the EU ever since Scotland was forced to leave with the rest of the UK, even though the vast majority of Scots voted against Brexit in 2016. Since then, her battle for independence has been thwarted by a succession of Conservative Prime Ministers but the new hope is that the Supreme Court will soon agree to a new, legal referendum.

If this happens, the First Minister plans to hold a vote on October 19, 2023. The sticky situation for the Spanish will arise if the Supreme Court denies the request, in which case Ms Sturgeon has threatened to declare Scottish independence without Westminster’s consent.

Spain still refuses to recognise Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, and the matter is a particularly sore point closer to home considering the ongoing struggle with Catalan separatists.

"Spain considers they have unilaterally gained independence. So from the Spanish stance, these countries are not recognised out of fear of an analogy with similar independence movements going on in Spain," Mar Aguilera Vaqués, professor of constitutional law at the University of Barcelona, explained.

During a vital election year, Spain is highly unlikely to support Scotland’s re-entry into the EU unless the process is legally binding. If everything is kept above board and Westminster agrees to the secession from the UK, the Spanish government has agreed to raise no objections.

"Why not? If they leave Britain in accordance with their internal regulation [and] if Westminster agrees, why should we be against it?" Josep Borrell, former Foreign Secretary, said back in 2018.

Image: Archive

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